Pelosi is half-right

The stimulus

The response

Actually NP has it half right. You must follow your conscience. It is your "right" as a child of God. But you have a simultaneous responsibility to form a "right" conscience. You are called to remain a child of God, of being in relationship with God, by listening to the Word of God.

And as a Catholic Christian, you have the gift of being able to discuss this formally with God through his servant, a priest, in a private ceremony called variously Confession or Reconciliation. I wonder of NP has done that. I suspect she has not.

The leader of the priests in her diocese is the bishop. I am quite sure that if she went and confessed to the bishop, she would find he has strong differences with her interpretation of her faith, of what it means to be a "practicing" or "practical" Catholic.

And as for "Benny", he is good at hitting all pitches, often out of the park.

Not only is she no Catherine of Siena, she is no Dorothy Day, who was as liberal as almost anyone. She cofounded the Catholic Worker movement.

She had a child out of wedlock. She refused to have an abortion when she became pregnant with her lover's child, to the point he left her.

Love good graphics

funny and good

it's sad but I understand

why this was invented

more scary than an horror flick

http://www.sphere.com/nation/article/first-case-of-highly-drug-resistant-tuberculosis-in-us/19294836?icid=mainhtmlws-main-ndl1link3http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sphere.com%2Fnation%2Farticle%2Ffirst-case-of-highly-drug-resistant-tuberculosis-in-us%2F19294836

I think Herb Caen would call this

a name phreak

this includes at least part of the county I live in

http://www.housingwatch.com/2009/12/22/hottest-and-not-est-housing-markets-of-the-00s/?icid=mainhtmlws-main-ndl4link7http%3A%2F%2Fwww.housingwatch.com%2F2009%2F12%2F22%2Fhottest-and-not-est-housing-markets-of-the-00s%2F

tmi

http://www.gadling.com/2009/12/23/new-zealand-goes-easy-on-naked-bikers/?icid=mainhtmlws-main-ndl4link6http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gadling.com%2F2009%2F12%2F23%2Fnew-zealand-goes-easy-on-naked-bikers%2F

Tom - these people need counseling

or better drugs. Or was the year that bad in OR.

Christmas at Greccio

from the Christmas archives

What better way to prepare for the arrival of the Christ Child than to take a brief journey to Greccio, the spot in central Italy where St. Francis of Assisi created the first Christmas crib in the year 1223.

Francis, recalling a visit he had made years before to Bethlehem, resolved to create the manger he had seen there. The ideal spot was a cave in nearby Greccio. He would find a baby (we're not sure if it was a live infant or the carved image of a baby), hay upon which to lay him, an ox and an ass to stand beside the manger. Word went out to the people of the town. At the appointed time they arrived carrying torches and candles.

One of the friars began celebrating Mass. Francis himself gave the sermon. His biographer, Thomas of Celano, recalls that Francis

stood before the manger 'overcome with love and filled with a wonderful happiness.'

For Francis, the simple celebration was meant to recall the hardships Jesus suffered even as an infant, a savior who chose to become poor for our sake, a truly human Jesus.

Tonight, as we pray around the Christmas cribs in our homes, we welcome into our hearts that same Savior.

Comment:

God's choice to give human beings free will was, from the beginning, a decision to be helpless in human hands. With the birth of Jesus, God made the divine helplessness very clear to us, for a human infant is totally dependent on the loving response of other people. Our natural response to a baby is to open our arms, as Francis did, to the infant of Bethlehem and to the God who made us all.

link to prior Christmas post

Amen

I am not a lover of lawns. Rather would I see daisies in their thousands, ground ivy, hawkweed, and even the hated plantain with tall stems, and dandelions with splendid flowers and fairy down, than the too-well-tended lawn. - William Henry Hudson (1841-1922) author and naturalist

phrases that are not quite the same ATW

after tiger woods, has meaning changed?

Let's go play a round.

I had a bad lay on hole 7.

Let's play nine holes this afternoon.

I'll have one to go please

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/07/ibm_data_center_containers/

company has employees add their title to all emails

and no tech support email goes out.

It seems all affected employees had the word Specialist in their title. The netnanny found the word _c_i_a_l_i_s_ embedded in that word. ( I did spacing to fool netnannies.)

source

climate, weather & politics

wow good

this is gross

this is gross but I shouldn't diss it. He is a fellow union member.

one DNA test to go,please

http://www.gnn.com/article/brothers-living-in-a-cave-in-hungary/801265

great Christmas story and a blast from the past

http://news.aol.com/philanthropy/nc/article/new-secret-santa-gives-out-14000-in-one/810759?icid=mainmaindl6link3http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Fphilanthropy%2Fnc%2Farticle%2Fnew-secret-santa-gives-out-14000-in-one%2F810759

prior Christmas posts (you can follow links back 3 years)

Santa who?

http://www.urlesque.com/2009/12/07/sketchy-santas/?icid=mainmaindl6link6http%3A%2F%2Fwww.urlesque.com%2F2009%2F12%2F07%2Fsketchy-santas%2F

useless words

I was reading a letter to the editor in Commonweal. The writer called himself a "conservative."

What a worthless word! Along with liberal, progressive, Democrat, and Republican. The last two are at best brands which are redefined formally every four years at a national convention when the platform is created. Do people read platforms any more? Do the candidates? Who cares?

The c-word and the l-word are either implied brands when self-applied, but compliments or epithets when applied to others. As in a number of other languages, the meaning is in the tone of voice.

John McCarthy was a political liberal and a middle of the road pastor. As a bishop, he could not be called anything but orthodox and orthoprax (the spell checker does like me for turning a noun into an adjective).

Joe Fiorenza was a political liberal. As a bishop, he became head of the USCCB. You don't get any straighter than that.

So are/were they liberal? conservative? progressive? orthodox? right-wing? left-wing?

Why do we even have terms still around based on how people sat in the legislature after the French revolution?

I always used to call myself a middle-wing extremist. I may return to that - angry indifference - a quiet rabble-rouser (or would be if I could find a decent rabble).

The blessing of being single

Sophie and Shirley, two elderly widows in a Florida adult community, are curious about the latest arrival in their building -- a quiet, nice looking gentleman who keeps to himself.

Shirley says," Sophie, you know I'm shy. Why don't you go over to him at the pool and find out a little about him. He looks so lonely."

Sophie agrees, and later that day at the pool, she walks up to him and says, "Excuse me, mister. I hope I'm not prying, but my friend and I were wondering why you looked so lonely."

"Of course I'm lonely, he says, "I've spent the past 20 years in prison."

"You're kidding! What for?"

"For killing my third wife. I strangled her."

"What happened to your second wife?"

"I shot her."

"And, if I may ask, your first wife?"

"We had a fight and she fell off a building."

"Oh my," says Sophie. Then turning to her friend on the other side of the pool, she yells, "Yoo hoo, Shirley. He's single!"

It worries me when I see single people overly anxious to find a mate. Perhaps, though, we have contributed to the situation by treating singleness like it's some sort of disease. Singles often comment that they feel out of place at church (activities tend to be family-oriented) and feel they are sometimes regarded as less important than married people. While marriage is a God-ordained institution, I think we do a disservice by suggesting that singles are somehow "incomplete" until they find that "certain someone."

The truth is, while Paul held marriage in high regard (Eph 5), he preferred being single and recommended it to Christians at Corinth in the difficult situation they were facing (1Cor 7). Single Christians have the opportunity to serve God in ways that married Christians would have difficulty doing. Of course, the opposite is also true.

So what is the lesson to be learned? Whatever situation you find yourself in, seek to serve God with all your heart. If you are single, use your singleness to serve God as best as you can. And if you're married, use your married status to do the same.

"But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk.....keeping the commandments of God is what matters." (1Cor 7:17,19b)- http://www.tftd-online.com

I somewhat disagree. Companionship without commitment is empty. Been there, done that.

What a maroon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Kh7nLplWo

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/52/messages/630.html

requiescant in pacem

http://www.myabc50.com/mostpopular/story/Maj-Gen-Terry-deeply-saddened-by-loss-of-two/L1qRbNH0I0KxICEtkx3F3w.cspx

http://www.myabc50.com/news/local/story/Drum-officials-no-record-of-Hunter-seeing-action/ULBi4_LffEuLmvwisoqpEA.cspx

http://www.myabc50.com/news/local/story/Investigator-Hunter-admitted-killing-two-buddies/5ojJPkbXLUiWdQwvrlOkSg.cspx

http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/78435077.html

http://www.myabc50.com/news/local/story/Murder-suspect-waives-extradition-proceedings/_RjdfOE_SE6J-6NlXmZnSw.cspx

http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/78238502.html

http://www.myabc50.com/news/local/story/Double-homicide-near-Evans-Mills/04o6YQOBakeehcnf1UV8sg.cspx

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/double_homicide_reported_near.html

hey madison

is this your place in Frederick MD?

Thanksgiving

It is the season of giving thanks:

• for life, family, friends.
• for children, birth and by marriage, and grandchildren, birth and by marriage, present and future.
• for gatherings where blended families celebrate each other's presence.

It is a time for remembrance for those not present:

• for ancestors gone before and relationships broken.
• for those whose lives are at a physical distance - for Jennifer and Riley, for Andrew, for Tom and Kathy and Andrea.
• for those whose responsibilities keep them working - for Sarah and Kat.

It is a time of prayer

• for those unemployed and those in fear of unemploment - for Ryan and us all.
• for those in pain - physical and not.
• for those touched by the mystery of life and death.

For this, O Lord, we pray.

how old am I?

I remember when these were introduced!

no.1 was a great shock

http://www.walletpop.com/insurance/most-dangerous-neighborhoods

surprised about #4 but then I don't know the city

when principle overcomes emotion

http://www.newsmax.com/estrich/?s=al&promo_code=9173-1

and the people say Amen

As a lobbyist in Washington DC, I'd just finished up a meeting with a Congressman when I stopped to use the restroom. After washing my hands, I stepped over to the hand dryer and noticed that someone had taped a note to the machine. The note said,

Push button for message from Congress.

- Ed

The Accidental Hero

if it works, it is a good thing

there are no free lunches - even with a clean heart and good intentions

http://ecogeek.org/solar-power/2987-solar-projects-battling-for-water

Tom - do you know about this?

http://thetyee.ca/Life/2009/10/30/DarkDiscovery/index.html

and some of us can have both

The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues. - Elizabeth Taylor q.Penny Pennington q.tftd-l

very polically incorrect

I rear-ended a car this morning. I knew it was going to be a REALLY bad day. The driver got out of the other car, and he was a DWARF! He looked up at me and said,

I am NOT happy!

So I said,

Well, which one ARE you then?

That's how the fight started. - BROOKSBY1

Kerr's Three Rules for a Successful College

Have plenty of football for the alumni, sex for the students, and parking for the faculty.

slow but persistant

but is she able to drive

unclear of the concept

just plain careless

criminally negligent

stralia

what, no video?

requiescant in pacem

May the Lord shine his light on the families as he sends us the sun every day to warm and nourih the earth.

Ft Hood 2009Nov5

here kitty, kitty

http://www.pawnation.com/2009/11/03/leopard-seen-cruising-down-highway/?icid=main|htmlws-main-n|dl8|link7|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pawnation.com%2F2009%2F11%2F03%2Fleopard-seen-cruising-down-highway%2F

the golden age

Maury and Pauly were sitting in the rockers on the front deck of the retirement home. Pauly says, "You know, even though I'm old and full of aches and pains, I don't feel too bad. How about you."

Maury says, "Me, I feel like a newborn baby!!!"

Pauly: "A newborn baby, how's that?"

Maury: "No hair, no teeth, and I just wet my pants."

- Lee Bradley uga2009Oct29

pome

Yesterday,
All those backups seemed a waste of pay.
Now my database has gone away.
Oh I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly,
There's not half the files there used to be,
And there's a milestone hanging over me
The system crashed so suddenly.

I pushed something wrong
What it was I could not say.

Now all my data's gone
and I long for yesterday-ay-ay-ay.

Yesterday,
The need for back-ups seemed so far away.
I knew my data was all here to stay,
Now I believe in yesterday.

- Bill Stebbins w/apologies to John Lennon uga2009Oct27

puzzles for adults

1) The Elder Twin

One day Kerry celebrated her birthday. Two days later her older twin brother, Terry, celebrated his birthday. How come?

2) Manhole Covers

Why is it better to have round manhole covers than square ones?

This is logical rather than lateral, but it is a good puzzle which can be solved by lateral thinking techniques. It is supposedly used by a very well-known software company as an interview question for prospective employees.

3) The Deadly Party

A man went to a party and drank some of the punch. He then left early. Everyone else at the party who drank the punch subsequently died of poisoning. Why did the man not die?

4) Trouble with Sons

A woman had two sons who were born on the same hour of the same day of the same year. But they were not twins. How could this be so?

5) The Man in the Bar

A man walks into a bar and asks the barman for a glass of water. The barman pulls out a gun and points it at the man. The man says, "Thank you" and walks out.

This puzzle has claims to be the best of the genre. It is simple in its statement, absolutely baffling, and yet with a completely satisfying solution. Most people struggle very hard to solve this one, yet they like the answer when they hear it or have the satisfaction of figuring it out.

answers later

for the grandkids - halloween pt 2

Why did the vampire go to the orthodontist?
- To improve his bite.

What do you get when you cross a vampire and a snowman?
- Frostbite.

Why do witches use brooms to fly on?
- Because vacuum cleaners are too heavy.

How do witches keep their hair in place while flying?
- With scare spray.

Do zombies eat popcorn with their fingers?
- No, they eat the fingers separately.

Why don't skeletons ever go out on the town?
- Because they don't have any body to go out with.

What is a vampire's favorite sport?
- Casketball.

What would a monster's psychiatrist be called?
- Shrinkenstein.

What do you call someone who puts poison in a person's corn flakes?
- A cereal killer.

What kind of streets do zombies like the best?
- Dead ends.

What type of dog do vampire's like the best?
- Bloodhounds.

What does a vampire never order at a restaurant?
- A stake sandwich.

What is a skeleton's favorite musical instrument?
- A trombone.

What do birds give out on Halloween night?
- Tweets.

Why do vampires need mouthwash?
- They have bat breath.

Why did the Vampire subscribe to the Wall Street Journal?
- He heard it had great circulation.

Why don't mummies go on vacation?
- They are afraid that they might relax and unwind.

for the grandkids - halloween pt 1

A vampire bat came flapping in from the night covered in fresh blood and parked himself on the roof of the cave to get some sleep. Pretty soon all the other bats smelled the blood and began hassling him about where he got it. He told them to knock it off and let him get some sleep, but they persisted in hassling him to no end until finally he gave in. "OK!" he said with exasperation. "Follow me," and he flew out of the cave with hundreds of bats following close behind him. Down through the valley they went, across the river, and into the deep forest. Finally he slowed down, and all the other bats excitedly gathered around him. "Do you see that tree over there?" he asked. "Yes, yes, yes!" the bats all screamed in a frenzy. "Good," said the first bat, "because I DIDN'T!" - Thomas Ellsworth

moles, gophers, groundhogs, rabbits, meerkats and credit in Canada

a redacted excerpt from an email at work

Log on to ***** today to register.

Please contact ***** ***** with any questions.
　
Canada's Credit Business Practices & Cost of Burrowing Regs - CanReg Development
Overview
Nov 2nd
11:00 to 12:00pm
room *****
**Please note there is no enrollment on ***** for this class only, you may just walk in**

Heteronormativity Is Hot Right Now

As the fall semester gets under way, we must acclimate ourselves to the most important ritual of graduate-student life: the proclamation of our "interests." For those of you not in graduate school, this event occurs at the beginning of every seminar: We all introduce ourselves and make some statement about what we are grooming ourselves to study, or our "interests."

I use quotation marks because these interests are not really interests-at least not in the way that one is interested in music, basketball, or girls. Rather, these are academic formulations of the most careful and artificial sort. One can declare an interest in the rhetoric of suburban bike trails and their relation to the death of the novel, and nobody would flinch or giggle. On the contrary, most of us would nod as if we all knew about scholars doing bike-trail studies.

I know those outside academe think this stuff is pretentious, but I find the practice charming, even though I perhaps use that adjective with a sneer. I can't help sensing that professors get sadistic pleasure out of watching students grasp for interests in an attempt to impress. After all, the students are all too aware of their inexperience, and will do their best to play down their anxiety.

For those of you who are just entering graduate school, or who are in need of a new graduate-school beginning, I have some advice. I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did during my first "interests" session, when I explained that I was interested in the literature of the "margins." The professor gave me a horrified look and suggested that I actually meant American ethnic literature or something like that-it was a euphemism of my euphemism. I also made a joke that piggybacked on three previous students' jokes. I didn't know that four variations of the same joke marked the official point of diminishing returns. (If I remember right, the joke stemmed from someone's interest in institutional monogamy and its polygamous subconscious; three of us followed up with jokes about being in a monogamous relationship.)

So for those of you who are not quite sure what you are interested in, here are some guidelines. (If you are not in a humanities or liberal-arts graduate program, feel free to use this as a template. You can substitute words or phrases like "economic game theory" and "macrogenetics" for any of mine.)

1. Never deviate from introducing your interests with the phrase "I am interested in . ," because this is what you are interested in. Really. You are interested in these things because they are interesting. Especially interesting is whatever your last long paper was about.
   
2. Know your theoretical buzzwords, because you will have to use at least two of them. Here is a crib sheet of recent theoretical terms: liminal, heteronormativity, empire, postempire, trauma, narratography, post-new formalism, posthuman, specism, fecism, culturality, hybridity, hybridism, Lacanimal, bestiality, bestialism, bestialology, postbestiality, and so on. You get the point, but you will notice from those terms that the new hot thing is anything about animals and humans. Our field is evolving with such grace.
   
3. Most of the terms, especially if they end in "ism," "ity," or "ology," can be plural, and you might score extra points with that innovation. This is especially true of "sexualities." Never, ever use "sexuality," because you will be guilty of not acknowledging just how plural the concept is. Do you know how many heteronormativities there are? Probably like seven, maybe eight if you add the liminal space between heteronormativities and homonormativities.
   
4. Take a group of common things or states, like dandelions, dead eyes, hugs, or hubcaps, and add "the rhetoric of" before it. If you prefer the singular, add "studies" after it. (Examples: "the rhetoric of thunderstorms" or "boredom studies.")
   
5. Take two totally unrelated concepts, like bookbinding and waterboarding, and add "the intersections of" before them. This works really well for sexualities: "the intersections between monuments and masculinity" or "the intersections between transgender and Trans Ams." If you can relate two unrelated concepts, you'll get a lot of thoughtful nods, which is your goal.
   
6. You can never go wrong with "shame." Think about it: "I am interested in shame." "Shame studies," "medieval religious shame," "postwar shame." Trust me, shame always works. It sounds just right if you say it aloud. It works well with sexualities. It describes every age other than our own, and it describes every belief system other than our own, and it allows us to look down upon everyone being shamed and theorize over their shame. It's Foucaultian, it's Freudian, it's Zizekian, it's even Agambenian. It's shame.
   
7. Try to sit at one end of the room, so you can go either last or first. Go first and you can set the standard for all other interests. Last, and you can refer back to all other proclaimed interests and combine them with the strategy of No. 5. That, or you can borrow a good interest from someone else and just add "sexualities."
   
8. Never sacrifice originality and erudition for clarity.
   
9. Find out what was popular in the field 10 or 15 years ago, so that you can avoid making the mistake of saying you are interested in it. As a bonus, if someone says something like "antitheatricality" or "metanarrative," you can whisper to your neighbor that nobody is doing that anymore. However, do not whisper that to your neighbor if the topic is race, class, or gender.
   
10. Talk longer than you should. Don't be satisfied with just one "intersections of." Use two. Then explain them and how they pertain to the birth of the prose poem. You should always mention a previous professor you worked with from your undergraduate college while you are talking, unless you went to Brigham Young University, as I did. Never mention Brigham Young or any other religious institution you may have happily attended. You might as well say, "I am naïve, conformist, unthinking, racist, sexist, truthist, Godist, and simple-minded," because that will be the class's, and sometimes the professor's, eager assumption.

Following those 10 rules will dispel all anxiety. Let me end by demonstrating a proper interest statement, one that you can readily use if needed:

I'm James, I'm a second-year in the Ph.D. program, and I am interested in the intersections between vertebrate masculinity and the rhetoric of American monuments, particularly as it relates to T'tanka, the buffalo, and the postbestial tendencies of American empire. Before I came here, I was working on a project at the University of Kansas with George Crabtree in which we located all the moments in captivity narratives when buffaloes came in contact with makeshift American monuments, and I hope to continue studying those hybridities, or contact zones, within the fiction(s) of the 19th centur(ies). I also study shame.

- James S. Lambert is a Ph.D. candidate in English at the University of Iowa
q.nathan sanders
associate professor and graduate program director
department of ecology & evolutionary biology
university of tennessee
knoxville, tn 37996
q.my niece

[The pup thinks a person who has no shame cannot possibly study shame.]

tmi

mellow yellow

woman on the front line

http://www.thelocal.de/society/20091026-22817.html

tweeter -have you seen this?

http://www.thelocal.de/society/20090918-22019.html

what color are your goggles?

Beer goggles, I am told, is a code word for the impairment of judgment, not to say vision, that affects one who has imbibbed alcoholic beverage(s). It is used to explain partner choices, often adverse, made under those conditions.

My experience tells me this metaphor (goggles) is able to be used in a wider context. E.g., I think I have experienced "stress goggles" from both sides. Many people, I have observed, start by changing their voice when stressed - it gets an edge. I have found myself doing that, even of the source of the stress is myself.

This voice change affects the behavior of those around the person stressed. Loving sounds change to belligerent. Requests sound like commands.

The person stressed becomes less aware of the reality of those around them and has a tendency (as I have experinced from both sides) to misjudge others, either because of haste, or as in the case of alcohol, impaired judgment.

N Marietta Loop - the beginning of closure

I signed for a new PT Cruiser today. Used again, white again, but 3 years newer and 25k miles less on the odometer. Delivery on Tu/We.

If only I had gotten the shelf out of the deceased one. If only I had gotten the decals off the windows. My son tells me the 10ID one was from his arrival FtDrum.

The HHR was ok, even with the defective door locks.

On the todo list is "go to Marietta City government and tell them that intersection needs a no u-turn sign". There is no line of sight for west bound traffic at Wallace.

dear children

reality bites. be anonymous.

N Marietta Loop - update

Car is totaled. I am looking at getting another PT - so far two choices - white and black. I think I want another stick.

The console was changed and the headroom seems less. I have insurance company rental up to Thursday.

which one of my darling granddaughters might say this?

Brenda's six-year-old daughter was explaining to the other kids what "extinct" meant:

Well,

she said in all seriousness

it means that the dinosaurs are all dead and have been dead so long they don't stink anymore. That's why they call them exstinked.

- Doc's Daily Chuckle

Benedict - a wild and crazy guy

He certainly knows how to throw red meat to the press - religious and secular. But will he be Catholic enough for Anglo-Catholics?

oh Tom does Oregon have that much sun?

a sunny future for USBank

N Marietta Loop

• I was going from Kennesaw to the KofC meeting at Holy Family. As I entered the intersection with Wallace, a Ford cargo van - the longest wheel base - made a u-turn. I had one of those. The turning radius is about 4 lanes. This guy tried to do it in three. As he was blocking the two driving lanes, I struck the rear passenger side behind the tire -- if he were six more feet further, I would have missed him.
  
  Because it had been raining, the pavement - asphalt - was wet and slick.
  
  The airbags did not deploy.
  
• I have now gone to both doctors. My GP checked me out mostly ok. Just talking to him has calmed my nerves. But I continue to have flashbacks when I enter intersections. Or when I have to deal with an aggressive driver - which in GA is often.
  
  The ortho man found I had no broken bones in my right hand but my index finger is quite swollen. We will see in a few weeks if my neck calms down and my right hand and arm quit hurting. Oh yes and the spot in my not quite lower back.
  
  I shouldn't whine as my son-in-law has much worse problems.
  
• My car was at first glance estimated as needing $4.5k in repairs. At which point their computer and the insurance company told them to dig deeper. The estimate is now $6.5k. I fear they will total it out. In which case I need to come up with about $5k to get a new car. It would have been easier to handle that before the market crash. I suppose I will hear the bad news later this week.
  
• And in travel news, the Kat is in Bangkok.

retirement

Every day is a Saturday, unless it is Sunday.

I still wear a watch because I do not want to be late going nowhere to do nothing.

When asked what am I doing now that I am retired - I answer, little as I can and mostly what I please. - Herr Kemper _ruminations on Retirement_

I don't think I can relate to this. I don't want to retire to become a vegetable, I want to shift the focus of my life to things more enjoyable, but no less work. I would like to teach. I would like to work with people in places and situations where associations can be voluntary. I would like to have time to pray more regularly.

fly the friendly skies

To pass the time while our plane was being de-iced, the flight attendants played a trivia game with the passengers. They asked us to guess the total number of years the three of them had worked for the airlines. After an attendant collected our estimates, we heard the announcement:

The correct answer is 26 years. For the two people who came closest with 28 years, we have prizes. And for the passenger in seat 12F who guessed 85 years, would you please step off the plane once we are airborne.

- Ed q.gcfl

this error message is not pro-life

User setup member NOT updated...User aborted

As far as I know, computers cannot go back in time.

son - read this story

a Wounded Warrior of another kind

1401 + 50 = party

Congratulations! Today marks the 50th anniversary of the announcement of the 1401 on 1959Oct5!

This past year, I've witnessed your pride of successfully designing, developing and bringing to market such a significant system that introduced computing to so many people, businesses, and institutions around the world. Half of all computers in the world by the mid 1960s isn't too bad! ;-)

Quoting from our 1401 two-pager (a precursor to the 14-page booklet to be printed for the upcoming Nov 10th event at the Computer History Museum):

By mid 1959, with a 40-person engineering team working night and day,
trial educational classes underway within IBM, and a running prototype, the 1401
was poised to transform the business world with its low entry cost, outstanding
print quality, powerful magnetic tapes, and the promise of a mass-market
stored-program computer. Only IBM's skeptical forecasting department needed
persuasion to approve the product's launch.

"DAWN OF A NEW AGE": On October 5, 1959, the 1401 was announced via
closed-circuit TV to 50,000 participants in 102 cities. September the following
year the first 1401 was shipped to Time-Life in Chicago and by year end 100
systems had been delivered. By 1965, worldwide installations of 1401s peaked at
9,300 while 1400 family machines-models 1410, 1440, 1460, 7010-comprised half of
all computers (which by 1967 peaked at 15,000 systems).

Regards,

- Robert [B. Garner]

p.s. If you can make it out to California, Nov 9 & 10 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Fran Underwood, Chuck Branscomb, and Shel Jacobs will be there talking about the 1401 development history:

http://www.computerhistory.org/events/

I'll be hosting a "founders luncheon" on Monday the 9th to share stories and have some fun with the 1401 restoration team and Museum staff. I'll send an invitation to those who, according to Jud McCarthy, are able to make it out west to the Museum.
　
IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, CA
Office: 408-927-1739
Mobile: 408-679-0976
robgarn [a] us.ibm.com
_______________________________________________
1401_interest mailing list
http://mail.computerhistory.org/mailman/listinfo/1401_interest

requiescat in pacem

William Safire (1929Dec17-2009Sep27)

In memory

a metphorical tribute

old thoughts found while cleaning up

edited to remove the identity of my interlocutor -- it was posted to a website formerly known as St Raphael's. The file this was in is dated 2002Dec3.

Dear #11107 - part 1

I am sorry I did not get to post in your thread now placed in the forbidden zone under pain of excommunication. I am on vacation and a bit out of touch. But it seems to me that the topic you were wishing to address is mission and evangelization. You gave us your take on your personal mission and suggested evangelization approach -- you wish to preach a crusade, this time against other Catholics. Would that this were a novel approach.

It is good that you are thinking about mission, about the journey and meaning of your personal life in God. One of my passions is the communion of the saints, what Pius XII called the Body of Christ. JPII shares this passion. He has held up many models for us to ponder, who invite us into relationship with them.
At the moment I would like to consider one of my favorites, St Mother Teresa of Calcutta. First you may wish to object that I call her a saint. While her name is not yet in the canon (Latin for list), I have never met a Catholic who did not consider her a saint in their heart of hearts. Her cultus is approved. So calling her a saint is to recognize her heroic virtues -- as did the Hindus of her adopted country India, who gave her a state funeral.

Many saints experience a conversion experience -- not a flash of light or a vision, but a turning in one's life to a new mission. SMToC's was different in that she was already a vowed religious when her conversion experience occurred.

The nature of her conversion experience was also special with respect to its goal -- its sense of mission. Here in the United States most Catholics have experienced the mission of vowed women religious. For persons of my certain age, it was typically as an educator or healer or contemplative intercessor. They taught in schools, worked in hospitals, nursing homes, retirement homes, they prayed and worked in enclosure.

SMToC chose to be in the world. She chose to minister in the streets. She was called to minister to those rejected by the world. And she chose not to teach them or heal them -- merely to be present to them as an alter Christus -- to wipe their brow as they died, to share a meager meal as they struggled for life. As she herself said, she was not called to be effective but to be faithful -- faithful to the call of Christ. To paraphrase Francis of Assisi, she preached always, but seldom used words.

Which, Eric, gets us back to your post. You appear to be concerned with a lack of faithfulness in the Church. You call us to orthodoxy and orthopraxy (as Casey Stengel said, you could look it up).

What I think you are doing is rejecting the call of the Spirit to be in, not to be of, but to minister to the world today. You present to us the paradigm of crusade as the way of lifting up Christ. I would submit that the witness (Greek martyrion) of the saints of the twentieth century shows us the two paths indicated by the comments on vow religious women above -- ministry of service and ministry of presence.

Service was modeled to us by Jesus when he washed the feet of the Apostles, when he listened to all, when he preached conversion by love -- of God and of our neighbors all, when he healed the sick.

Presence he modeled to us when he hung on the cross, dying, for us, yet be present to those who shared his fate. He was present to them as brother irrespective of who they were and what they had done.

The opportunities are many; many are called; less than many heed the call; fewer still answer the call.

But if you feel you are called to preach a crusade, then you must be trained and formed. You have many choices -- diaconate, priesthood, vowed religious. Gird your loins and prepare to do battle. Seek the Lord where he may be found.

Dear #11107 - part 2

The second issue that arises from your post is the tendency of some people to seek darkness.

Just about everyone understands the light/darkness dichotomy -- it is found in pop culture such as Star Wars. It was recently the basis of the Gospel reading of the wise and foolish virgins -- a story rooted in real life even to the 20th century (see Barclay's Commentary on Matthew).

But a recent event in my life showed me a new insight into this image. I was on a 2.5 day retreat at a Jesuit retreat House (Ignatius House in Atlanta). There was light everywhere: in the Word, in the retreat master, in the glow in the sky from a major city, in the halls 24x7 for security. Then on Saturday, while it was still light out, a storm went through, knocking out the power. Dinner and the last conference were done with no electric lights, just as night was falling. There was a scramble to find candles to allow us to navigate the dark halls, the emergency power system having been exhausted.

Just as we were retiring, the power came back. But the next morning, just as the morning bell sounded, out again went the power. Breakfast with no power was more limited than would otherwise be the case. This time the power returned in time for the final Eucharist. At that time we shared our experiences of the retreat.

It seems that when the storm came through on Saturday, a number of people were in the nearby woods. Those woods have a number of old large tall trees, not the place to be in the storm. Several stories included the sound of limbs crashing to the ground as the winds blew through. All escaped unharmed but not untouched. Prayer on the occasion of danger burns deeper into our heart.

I am presently in the Washington DC area. The residents are still recovering and remembering the events here associated with the snipers. Last light, at dinner, it was pointed our that, on the way to the restaurant, we passed the site of one of the shootings.

Where I am staying is close to the Pentagon. When I passed through last August, it was pointed out the side that is renewed and rebuilt after the events of September 11, 2001.

Two cases of darkness visiting and passing away, but the memories and therefore emotions, linger.

I have seen on StR's since I have been a member a tendency of some to focus on the dark side of things, specifically the church. In view of the ongoing scandals and their painful resolutions, it is somewhat understandable.

But on that retreat I came to a new appreciation of light and darkness.

We are so bathed in light that we have lost our appreciation of light and darkness. We use light to drive away fear, loneliness, and boredom. The shiny is now mundane.

But when electricity is shut off, we are left with not just darkness but quiet. Then it is when we can disconnect from the world, and connect with God. For as the prophet said, the Lord comes not in the wind and thunder, but in the gentle breeze. We find it difficult to experience it without being still.

Christ is indeed the light of the world. But for his light to be seen, we must remove the glitter that blinds us. For us to sense the Spirit of God, the breathe of God, the gentle breeze that blows through our souls if we let it, we must build a windbreak against the hurricane of Hollywood.

And so we frame a new paradox. We shut off the light of the world that we may be warmed by the Light of the world. We accept the absence of electric light so we may open the window of our hearts to the quiet Presence.

So Eric if you must be a crusader, be a Knight who accepts the responsibility to lift up the light of Christ in the world. You might start where you are going to school. Your bishop, Donald Wuerl, is one of the most influential and respected bishops in the US and in the world (he used to work in the Vatican and is respected there). He is a great communicator. He is also a soft spoken gentleman. Get to know him.

Richard (formerly of Northside Pgh)

Dear #11107 - part 3

I have this exercise derived from an RCIA class I taught. I think it might make a good basis for discussion.

I am posting each question as a sub thread to avoid having nine threads.

1. We have all heard the term "my people." We may have even used it. Consider using this term personally. When you do consider it personally, who is included in your personal "my people?" There may be more than one group this applies to. They may be groups within groups. Name all the groups you can!

2. It is said that the Church is "one." What does this mean to you? Can you name one or more specific ways in which the Church is "one?"

3. Can you name one or more specific ways in which the Church is not "one?"
   E.g., the church does not consist of people of only one color, of only one race, of only one culture; it does not use just one liturgy -- each of the "Rites" of the Catholic Church has its own ancient form of liturgy.

4. It is said that the Church is "holy." What does this mean to you? Can you name one or more specific ways in which the Church is "holy?"

5. Can you name one or more specific ways in which the Church is not "holy?"

6. It is said that the Church is "catholic" with a small "c." That means universal. What does this mean to you? Can you name one or more specific ways in which the Church is "catholic?"

7. Can you name one or more specific ways in which the Church is not "catholic?"

8. It is said that the Church is "apostolic." What does this mean to you? Can you name one or more specific ways in which the Church is "apostolic?"

9. Can you name one or more specific ways in which the Church is not "apostolic?"

pup is restless

see Lynx to get to pup Saints of the Day

0.00

Over there years there have been stories and jokes about getting a bill for 0.00. It happened to me today and I am happy.

The bill was my 2009 Property Tax Notice from the city of Kennesaw GA. Here turning 65 has its advantages.

Kat did you know this about Sydney?

see imbedded quotes

adventures in wonderland

When a woman dropped her Chevy Malibu off at a repair shop in Winona, Minn., she told the mechanic, "Oh, by the way, I have a goat in my trunk." James Prusci figured he didn't hear her right. "A what?" he asked. "Yes, a goat. And it's alive," she said, and left the shop. "We cracked open the trunk, you know, so it could breathe," Prusci said. The goat -- painted purple and gold, the colors for the Minnesota Vikings -- had a number "4" shaved in its sides. The jersey of Brett Favre, who is playing for the Vikings after un-retiring again, bears the number 4. Prusci called animal control for advice, and they sent the police. Prosecutors are considering charges against Janelle Riopel, 21, for animal mistreatment, and a local farmer has adopted the goat. (Winona Daily News) ...Riopel may have made a goat out of Brett Farve, but she made an ass out of herself. - http://www.thisistrue.com

It's basically a social and environmental toxin

environmental toxin???

how time has flown

new world order

let the games begin

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/us_acorn_lawsuit/2009/09/23/263910.html?s=al&promo_code=8A5D-1

an obscure Georgia fact

do u know what a Senior Military College is?

he does by choice what I do of necessity

If I had his money I would also do my pleasure

mixed metaphors

He swept the rug under the carpet.

She's burning the midnight oil at both ends.

It was so cold last night I had to throw another blanket on the fire.

It's time to step up to the plate and cut the mustard.

She's robbing Peter to pay the piper.

He's up a tree without a paddle.

Beware my friend...you are skating on hot water.

Keep your ear to the grindstone.

Sometimes you've gotta stick your neck out on a limb.

Some people sail through life on a bed of roses like a knife slicing through butter.

- "friends and survivors" of Calvin College English department q.marsha1945@AUSTIN.RR.COM uga2009Sep13

tweeter - did you bring anyone home?

A friend had warned me that, as my three daughters became old enough to date, I'd disapprove of every young man who took them out. When the time came, I was pleased that my friend's prediction was wrong. Each boy was pleasant and well-mannered. Talking to my oldest daughter one day, I mentioned that I liked all the young men she and her sisters brought home. "You know, Dad," she replied, bursting my bubble. "We don't show you everybody." - Bill Stebbins uga2009Sep14

only in NJ?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,548991,00.html?test=latestnews

climate - lots of pretty graphs

http://www.slideshare.net/QuestSystems/agw-analysisrutanv5-read-only

Lawmakers Took Exotic 'Climate Change' Junket

http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/congress_climate_junket/2009/08/09/245746.html?s=al&promo_code=8503-1

translation please!

Romeo and Juliet

=== Act 1 ===

Login:

Romeo : R u awake? Want 2 chat?

Juliet: O Rom. Where4 art thou?

Romeo: Outside yr window.

Juliet: Stalker!

Romeo: Had 2 come. feeling jiggy.

Juliet: B careful. My family h8 u.

Romeo: Tell me about it. What about u?

Juliet: 'm up for marriage f u are.. Is tht a bit fwd?

Romeo: No. Yes. No. Oh, dsnt mat-r, 2moro @ 9?

Juliet: Luv U xxxx

Romeo: CU then xxxx

=== Act 2 ===

Friar: Do u?

Juliet: I do

Romeo: I do

=== Act 3 ===

Juliet: Come bck 2 bed. It's the nightingale not the lark.

Romeo: OK

Juliet: !!! I ws wrong !!!. It's the lark. U gotta go. Or die.

Romeo: Damn. I shouldn't hv wasted Tybalt & gt banished.

Juliet: When CU again?

Romeo: Soon. Promise. Dry sorrow drinks our blood. Adieu.

Juliet: Miss u big time.

=== Act 4 ===

Nurse: Yr mum says u have 2 marry Paris!!

Juliet: No way. Yuk yuk yuk. n-e-way, am mard 2 Rom.

=== Act 5 ===

Friar: Really? O no. U wl have 2 take potion that makes u look ded.

Juliet: Gr8.

=== Act 6 ===

Romeo: J-why r u not returning my texts?

Romeo: RUOK? Am abroad but phone still works.

Romeo: TEXT ME!

Batty: Bad news. J dead. Sorry m8.

=== Act 7 ===

Romeo: J-wish u wr able 2 read this...am now poisoning & and climbing in yr
grave. LUV U Ju xxxx

=== Act 8 ===

Juliet: R-got yr text! Am alive! Ws faking it! Whr RU? Oh...

Friar: Vry bad situation.

Juliet: Nightmare. LUVU2. Always. Dagger.

Ow!!!

Logout.......!

my son thinks this is funny

I went to call him tonight but couldn't find the phone. It wasn't in any clothes or my work bag. I looked on all likely surfaces. I called the phone but the ringer was down because I was using it at work for testing a paging program via text messaging.

Where was it? Lying next to some figs in a plastic "box" in the kitchen. Like the figs it is dark in color.

flufer 2fer

I sneezed a sneeze into the air
It fell to earth I know not where
But hard and cold were the looks of those
In whose vicinity I snoze

- First seen by tftd in _Boys Life_ ~1952

What is the difference between Bird Flu and Swine Flu? For bird flu you need tweetment and for swine flu you need oinkment.

- _Puns of the Day_ 08-26-09

another good health story

http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/health_stories/large_thighs_heart/2009/09/04/256563.html

hey tweeter - a good story about kids and flu

http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/health_stories/flu_deaths_older_kids/2009/09/04/256565.html

this brings back memories of a show for kids on Cincy TV in the 1950s

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070302042912AAGXHQl

some of the words seem a bit off

the word brothers was definitely not used

Saul Alinsky

the stimulus

my response

"Obama Takes a Page From Alinsky Handbook" is probably the best article I have seen from you since I first discovered NewsMax. I have personal experience from about 3 decades ago in Houston that validates the article.

I best liked that the article was informative but not alarmist. Alinsky was a careful observer of human nature. Understanding his insights is important to anyone who must interact with people.

Alinsky was also, as the article points out, very pragmatic. He was able to separate his principles and goals from the methods used to achieve the goals. His desire to read human nature as it exists and work with that, rather than thinking he can change human nature is a great part of the power of his ideas and techniques. - pup

Another Month Ends

All Targets Met
All Systems Working
All Customers Satisfied
All Staff Eager and Enthusiastic
All Pigs Fed and Ready to fly

- Entry in Weekly Schedule, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

yet another famous Georgian

http://news.aol.com/article/police-8th-person-dead-in-ga-mobile-home/646055?cid=12

http://news.aol.com/article/man-arrested-in-georgia-mobile-home/646401

http://news.aol.com/article/seven-found-killed-at-new-hope/645960

grandchildren auf dem katz

• She was in the bathroom, putting on her makeup, under the watchful eyes of her young granddaughter, as she'd done many times before. After she applied her lipstick and started to leave, the little one said, "But Gramma, you forgot to kiss the toilet paper good-bye!" I will probably never put lipstick on again without thinking about kissing the toilet paper good-bye.

• My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy Birthday. He asked me how old I was, and I told him, 62. My grandson was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, "Did you start at 1?"

• After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair.. As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin. Finally, she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern warnings. As she left the room, she heard the three-year-old say with a trembling voice, "Who was THAT?"

• A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own childhood was like: "We used to skate outside on a pond I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods." The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this all in. At last she said, "I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!"

• My grandson was visiting one day when he asked, "Grandma, do you know how you and God are alike?" I mentally polished my halo and I said, "No, how are we Alike?'' "You're both old," he replied.

• A little girl was diligently pounding away on her Grandfather's' word processor. She told him she was Writing a story. "What's it about?" he asked. "I don't know," she replied. "I can't read."

• I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what color it was. She would tell me and was always correct. It was fun for me, so I continued. At last, she headed for the door, saying, "Grandma, I think you should try to figure out some of these, yourself!"

• When my grandson Billy and I entered our vacation cabin, we kept the lights off until we were inside to keep from attracting pesky insects. Still, a few fireflies followed us in. Noticing them before I did, Billy whispered, "It's no use Grandpa. Now the mosquitoes are coming after us with flashlights."

• When my grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly replied, "I'm not sure.." "Look in your underwear, Grandpa," he advised, "mine says I'm 4 to 6."

• A second grader came home from school and said to her grandmother, "Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today." The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep h ER cool.. "That's interesting," she said, "how do you make babies?" "It's simple," replied the girl. "You just change 'y' to 'I and add 'es'."

• Children's Logic: "Give me a sentence about a public servant," said a teacher. The small boy wrote: "The fireman came down the ladder pregnant." The teacher took the lad aside to correct him. "Don't you know what pregnant means?" she asked. "Sure," said the young boy confidently. 'It means carrying a child."

• A grandfather was delivering his grandchildren to their home one day when a fire truck zoomed past. Sitting in the front seat of the fire truck was a Dalmatian dog. The children started discussing the dog's duties. "They use him to keep crowds back," said one child. "No," said another. "He's just for good luck." A third child brought the argument to a close."They use the dogs," she said firmly, "to find the fire hydrants."

• A 6-year-old was asked where his grandma lived. "Oh," he said, "she lives at the airport, and when we want her, we just go get her. Then, when we're done having her visit, we take her back to the airport."

• Grandpa is the smartest man on earth! He teaches me good good things, but I don't get to see him enough to get as smart as him!

• My Grandparents are funny, when they bend over; you hear gas leaks, and they blame their dog. [or stepping on a frog]

Chaplains Share Duties in Afghanistan

On an August evening in Afghanistan, the Rev. Mirek Jordanek, a Czech army chaplain, celebrated Mass in his limited English. A Protestant chaplain preached the homily at the weekend Mass.

One day, we will see him face to face,

said the Rev. Brent Sanders, the Protestant chaplain.

Let us be ready.

It is a fitting message for the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division. At least 14 soldiers have been killed in action since January, four of them in the last two weeks of July. Where once only 10 of the faithful attended Catholic Mass, their numbers have grown to at least 30 regular attendees. Although one out of five U.S. soldiers is Catholic, there are just 100 Catholic chaplains for the entire U.S. Army.

We are very short,

said the Rev. Bradley West, a Baptist assigned to the 10th Mountain Division.

Especially when we deploy, many soldiers will not see a priest the whole time, especially the guys out at command outposts,

he said.

Northwest?

Working at an airline ticket counter, I pulled up a passenger's reservation that showed his name as "Cole, Pheven."

"I'd like to be certain our information is correct," I said to him. "What is your first name?"

"It's Stephen," he replied. "I hope the reservation agent got it right. I told him it's spelled with a ph." - FranCMT2 q.gcfl

almost cobbite

cobber

I like this cartoonist.

new liturgical style?

Mix chest-thumbing music with thousands of high-energy teenagers, throw in Catholic devotions and talks about Mary and the saints and what you get is Steubenville Atlanta. - Andrew Nelson
The Georgia Bulletin2009Aug6p12

On the other hand would chest-thumping music be much better? Do teenagers thump their chest while enjoying music? Maybe Andy is a descendant of Archie Bunker?

How fast is a "high-energy teenager"? What do you shoot them out of to get them going that fast?

the real John Doe

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/a-name-only-a-lawyer-could-love/

prayer request

my cousin Michelle is pregnant. she has named her baby Timmy. he is unlikely to be born alive or to live long. please pray for Timmy.

someone in this video is famous

http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/52544087.html

why do feminists hate sarah palin?

http://www.lemondrop.com/2009/08/07/feminists-need-to-leave-sarah-palin-alone/?icid=mainhtmlws-maindl5link7http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lemondrop.com%2F2009%2F08%2F07%2Ffeminists-need-to-leave-sarah-palin-alone%2F

prior post on this blog

http://puptrax.blogspot.com/2009/07/sarah-palin-modern-cincinnatus.html

ok whose better looking

this hund or me!

whiteboard B#6

this is related to the immediate previous one. the clue is "postal code"

Virginia Kent

previous

whiteboard A#2

ants never sleep

previous

whiteboard B#5

this one is my creation

Oy Vay Kent

next

previous

for Tom

you know why

passing the buck

NY hospitality

wtf

http://www.xkcd.com/485/

dedicated to almost 5 decades of it

http://www.xkcd.com/518/

whiteboard B#4

U B (Eubie) d'Mann

next

previous

two strikes and you're out

John Smoleskis was looking through the jobs on monster.com. One was for a "literacy tutour", which rather confirms the need. It begins, "Our client who are a Training Provider ...". Which doubly confirms the need. - Sic! http://www.worldwidewords.org

wrong wrong wrong

Two medical students were walking along the street when they saw an old man walking with his legs spread apart. Hewas stiff-legged and walking slowly. One student said to his friend: "I'm sure that poor old man has Peltry Syndrome. Those people walk just like that." The other student says: "No, I don't think so. The old man surely has Zovitzki Syndrome. He walks slowly and his legs are apart just as we learned in class." Since they couldn't agree they decided to ask the old man. They approached him and one of the students said to him: "We're medical students and couldn't help but notice the way you walk, but we couldn't agree on the syndrome you might have. Could you tell us what it is?" The old man said, "I'll tell you, but first you tell me what you two fine medical students think." The first student said, "I think it's Peltry Syndrome." The old man said, "You thought........ But you are wrong." The other student said, "I think you have Zovitzki Syndrome." The old man said, "You thought....... But you are wrong." So they asked him, "Well, old timer, what do you have?" The old man said, "I thought it was GAS. But I was wrong, too!" - mhennigan HAWAII.RR.COM uga2009Jul25

The best armor is to keep out of gunshot.

- Francis Bacon (1561-1626) essayist, philosopher, and statesman

The person who first introduced Okinawan Karate to Japan in a major way was Gichin Funakoshi. He developed a set of Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate or Ninju Kun. The second principle is generally listed in American Karate Schools as:

There is no first strike in karate (Karate ni sente nashi).

However that was translated to me as "In Karate the first strike is not there", so I figured it meant that the first defense was not to be in a situation that required the use of Karate in the first place. . I had friends who got in fights a lot because they frequented biker bars. I frequented yuppy restaurants with bars and never got in a fight. I always thought that meant my self-defense skills were better than theirs. Apparently Francis Bacon would agree. - frank.brown_travelport.com

rim shot - chew on this

President William Howard Taft was considered so unfunny that Senators were known to gnaw off their own limbs while listening to his "jokes". Thus giving rise to the term "Stump Speech." - q.marsha1945@AUSTIN.RR.COM uga2009Jul24

Walter Cronkite

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003995240

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/opinion/26rich.html?em

whiteboard B#3

Nu M Plo-Yee

next

previous

oldest grandaughter still cute as a bug

see also her father's sister

I am trying to decide if this is stupider than

chasing Jack Burrell across the Turnpike after my wedding.

http://www.lemondrop.com/2009/07/24/-wedding-entrance-video-forever-ever/?icid=mainhtmlws-maindl2link3http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lemondrop.com%2F2009%2F07%2F24%2F-wedding-entrance-video-forever-ever%2F

yeah

whiteboard B#2

M T Qube

next

previous

whiteboard B#1

the B series are a number of nameplates found on unoccupied cubes in our cube farm. e.g.

Phil de Cube

next

whiteboard A#1

the A series would make the whiteboard but never went there. they come from a computer used in the late 1960's to take data used to design the neutron bomb. the group who programmed and used it were in the Neutron Physics Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, then part of the Atomic Energy Commision.

one of the programs on the computer would place a random thought on the screen. e.g.

A wet bird never flies at night.

next

tshirt 4 tweeter

short bus VIP

I'm special

source

yet another sloppy spellcheck

"The couple owned several local businesses, including a fiance company and a used car dealership."

I wonder if the fiances were new or used?

the source

Couple With 16 Children Found Slain

By MELISSA NELSON, AP

PENSACOLA, Fla. (July 10) - Investigators asked the public to be on the lookout Friday for a red van they believe carried three men involved in the deaths of a Florida Panhandle couple who were shot in their rural home while eight of their children slept.

Surveillance cameras showed the van at the home of Byrd and Melanie Billings in Beulah, a rural area west of Pensacola near the Alabama border, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said. The children were unharmed.

The sheriff's office released an enhanced but still grainy photograph of a red, 15-passenger van dating to the late 1970s or early '80s.

Morgan said investigators did not know who killed the wealthy couple known for adopting children with developmental disabilities, many born to drug-addicted mothers. But they said they wanted to question the three men suspected of involvement in the crime.

"It would be pure speculation. We see many random acts of violence now. We just don't know," he said.

Investigators are also awaiting autopsy results on the couple to learn more about the killings, he added.

Morgan said eight of the children, ages 8 to 14, were in the home when the couple was killed Thursday evening. A woman who lives in an outlying building and helps care for the children called emergency dispatchers from the home.

Deputies had to wake some of the children after they arrived, authorities said.

Investigators interviewed the children, who are now staying with other family members, Morgan said.

The Billings had 16 children, 12 of them adopted. They married 18 years ago and each had two children from previous marriages. The couple then began adopting children with developmental disabilities and other problems.

The couple owned several local businesses, including a fiance company and a used car dealership.

In a 2005 story in the Pensacola News Journal, the couple said they wanted to share their wealth with children in need, but didn't imagine their family would grow so large.

"It just happened," Melanie Byrd told the newspaper. "I just wanted to give them a better life."

hulla baloo konek konek

New Mexico license plates have USA after New Mexico. I assume they have to do that to let everyone know that New Mexico is in the United States. -
TFTD-L@TAMU.EDU

[tftd understands that a prominent TEXAS UNIVERSITY, not Texas A&M University, had someone from the admissions office send an applicant the international admission forms since 'New Mexico was a foreign country.']

Sarah Palin, a modern Cincinnatus?

http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/07/05/sarah-palin-a-modern-cincinnatus/

the pup's comments are #190 & #191 which reads

The message says “Your comment is awaiting moderation.” Is moderation allowed on the Internet? What kind of subversive site is this?

Palin's Speech Resigning as Governor

to my son

and sergeants everywhere doing status reports

Tom: one of your neighbors?

http://realestate.aol.com/pictures/feature/real-estate-news?pg=6

keeping kosher

Morris Rabinowitz in the late 1930's fled his native land of Germany. He sold all his assets and converted it to gold and then had 5 sets of solid gold false teeth made. When he arrived in New York the customs official was perplexed as to why anybody would have 5 sets of gold teeth. So Morris explained. "We Jews have two separate sets of dishes for meat products and dairy products but I am so kosher and religious I also have separate sets of teeth." The customs official shook his head and said, "Well that accounts for two sets of teeth. What about the other three?" Morris then said "Vell, us very religious Jews use separate dishes for Passover, but I am so religious I have separate teeth, one for meat and one for dairy food. The customs official slapped his head and then said, "You must be a very religious man with separate teeth for food and dairy products and likewise for Passover. That accounts for four sets of teeth. What about the fifth set?"

"Vell, to tell you the truth, once in a while I like a ham sandwich." - PhilGlowatz@NYC.RR.COM uga2009Jun21

thnking fast

An elderly man in Florida had owned a large farm for several years. He had a large pond in the back. It was properly shaped for swimming, so he fixed it up nice with picnic tables, horseshoe courts, and some orange and lime trees. One evening the old farmer decided to go down to the pond, as he hadn't been there for a while, and look it over. He grabbed a five- gallon bucket to bring back some fruit. As he neared the pond, he heard voices shouting and laughing with glee. As he came closer, he saw it was a bunch of young women skinny-dipping in his pond. He made the women aware of his presence and they all went to the deep end. One of the women shouted to him, 'we're not coming out until you leave!' The old man frowned, 'I didn't come down here to watch you ladies swim naked or make you get out of the pond naked.' Holding the bucket up he said, 'I'm here to feed the alligator.' Some old men can still think fast. - mhennigan@HAWAII.RR.COM uga2009Jun20

how to plan for retirement

A Well-Planned Retirement

The London Times

Outside the Bristol Zoo, in England, there is a parking lot for 150 cars and 8 coaches, or buses. It was manned by a very pleasant attendant with a ticket machine charging cars £1 (about $1.40) and coaches £5 (about $7). This parking attendant worked there for all of 25 years. Then, one day, he just didn't turn up for work. "Oh well", said Bristol Zoo Management - "we'd better phone up the City Council and get them to send a new parking attendant..."

"Er ... no", said the Council, "that parking lot is your responsibility."

"Er ... no", said Bristol Zoo Management, "the attendant was employed by the City Council, wasn't he?"

"Er ... NO!" insisted the Council.

Sitting in his villa somewhere on the coast of Spain, is a bloke who had been taking the parking lot fees, estimated at £400 (about $560) per day at Bristol Zoo for the last 25 years. Assuming 7 days a week, this amounts to just over £3.6 million ($7 million). And no one even knows his name!

- Stan Kegel uga2009Jun9

for Tom and Kathy

wanna swim?

for Mark P

sorry no cat

for my beautiful daughters and granddaughters

a flower

lost in translation

Mark Jones encountered an intriguing item on the menu in a Dutch restaurant.

One of the two starters was 'duck's udders'. After checking the Dutch original, rather than the tourist version of the menu, I discovered it was 'eendenborst' or duck breast. I chose the salmon nevertheless.

- Sic! World Wide Words

son: do you know about this?

Police in Syracuse NY, watched as a drug deal went down: the buyer got a $50 bag of crack cocaine, and paid for it with $10 in cash and half of a slaughtered pig. When confronted, Angelo Colon, 45, admitted that he had paid for drugs before with pig meat, and that the current buy was to help celebrate since a relative had just been released from jail. He was charged with misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance. (Syracuse Post-Standard)

the place has changed

Clayton is where mama Burrell and Uncle Schley used to live

I agree

I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my telephone. My wish has come true. I no longer know how to use my telephone. - Bjarne Stroustrup (1950-) computer science professor, designer of C++ programming language q._A-Word-A-Day_
[tftd believes this to be more true {today 2009Jun26} than when originally stated.]

shocking

Cincinnati at the top of this list is beyond my comprehension

and Atl, LA and Pgh are not on the list!

Medicinal words to describe people

My three children went to a Waldorf school. Waldorf uses the temperaments as one of its many child-management tools. For instance, children of like temperament are often seated together, so that they can "see themselves" and develop accordingly. It works better to have a choleric kid bumping heads with another choleric kid instead of with a weepy melancholic. The phlegs bore one another into action. The melans get fed up with one another's whining. The
sanguines have to learn to tamp down the chatter to get anything done.

My children are: Phlegmatic, Melancholic, and Sanguine-Choleric, so I got to experience four temperaments in three kids. Deciding what to do on a family outing was an interesting experience, I can tell you. - Laura Kennedy q.awad

true story - How would you pronounce this child's name?

"Le-a"

Leah?? NO

Lee - A?? NOPE

Lay - a?? NO NO NO

Lei?? Guess Again

This child attends a school in Detroit MI.

Her mother is irate because everyone is getting her name wrong. It's pronounced "Ledasha", When the Mother was asked about the pronunciation of the name, she said, "the dash don't be silent." So, if you see something come across your desk like this please remember to pronounce the dash. If they axe you why, tell them the dash don't be silent. -
mhennigan@HAWAII.RR.COM uga2009Jun19

dear grandchildren

can you find your mother/aunt in this picture?

The look on the face of which child is your favorite? - mine is first row second from the left.

surprise surprise

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL0910395120080109

Top 10 (More) Ways to Provoke a Geek Argument

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/06/ten-more-ways-to-provoke-a-geek-argument/

while we're on the topic of bizarre

The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form

Math and the City

moderately bizarre as only math can do it

gaffes and miscues

http://www.newsmax.com/gaffes/index.html?s=al&promo_code=7ED8-1

100 days

http://www.newsmax.com/100days/jan_20.html

Letterman's Women-Bashing Part of Larger Issue

http://www.newsmax.com/andrea_tantaros/letterman_palin/2009/06/16/225682.html

great physics joke

in lower left corner

corrected link

or maybe just a great pun

old news made new

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090612/ap_on_re_us/us_radioactive_wasps

This happened at Oak Ridge while I was there. Only the nest was built in a radiation monitor ionization chamber. Set it off. They had a nice picture in the next annual report.

They had to drain and clean a pond used to hold water before release into the Clinch River. I think it was Black Oak Creek.

be very careful about placing anything on the Internet

http://news.aol.com/article/christmas-card-photo-in-czech-ad/522807

creative new college sport

Carolyn is one of those unique individuals that allows you to be creative. She lets you take the bull by the horns and run. - Michael Bologna, director of the culinary program at the retirement party for Carolyn Hall, dean of the Mountain View campus of Chattahoochee Technical College 2009May28 q.Talia Mollett North Cobb Neighbor 2009Jun4

Displaced persons

I was thinking about missing my granddaughters and what I would like to tell them. It brought to mind a memory from my childhood.

I grew up in S.Ft.Mitchell Ky, a suburb of Cincinnati. The local Catholic church, Blessed Sacrament, was large. Originally it was all white plaster. During my youth, the inside was painted. I sang in the boys choir from the time I entered school until the 6th grade.

There was also a 1-8 school. I went there 1-6. Latin School was an accelerated program of 4 yrs that replaced 7-12.

During my youth, the school was significantly expanded to handle the children of the "baby boom". The teachers were Benedictine nuns, though lay women were added to the staff to handle the doubling of classes during the 1950s. The convent was next to the church, attached by a short walkway.

The "maintenance person" was Mr Barczak. He lived with his family in a tree-shaded large house behind the church parking lot. He and his family were "displaced persons" from Poland -- what today we would call refugees. (For a story called The Displaced Person, see the works of Flannery O'Connor, a famous GA author. It was made into a movie in 1977.)

While working around the church and school, he would sometimes be accompanied by several of his children. What brought this story fragment to mind is that he would talk to his children. I don't think he was just "baby sitting" them -- I think he was rearing them. This is what I miss about my grandchildren -- simply talking to them. At the moment we are distant figures in the other's lives. Intimacy grows out of immediacy, both in presence and in presence of mind. With just the latter, groundedness is missing.

Memorial Day at Marietta National Cemetary

doing the right thing

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27651384#27651384

diet

Two cannibals were sitting around the campfire talking. One of the cannibals said, "You know, I just don't like my brother-in-law." To which the other replied, "Then just eat the noodles." - Ed Buckner

I can see Sharyn doing this

LIVING STONES

Joe died. His will provided $30,000 for an elaborate funeral.

As the last guests departed the affair, his wife, Susan turned to her oldest and dearest friend. "Well, I'm sure Joe would be pleased," she said.

"I'm sure you're right," replied Joan, who lowered her voice and leaned in close. "How much did this really cost?"

"All of it," said Susan . "Thirty thousand."

"No!" Joan exclaimed. "I mean, it was very nice, but $30,000?"

Susan answered, "The funeral was $6,500. I donated $500 to the church. The refreshments $500. The rest went for the memorial stone."

Joan computed quickly. "$22,500 for a memorial stone? My goodness, how big is it?"

"Two and a half carats."

That humorous story serves as a reminder to us that there are many different kinds of stones -- from granite to diamonds -- which are of varying value. People all around the world are agreed that a stone of granite is not very valuable, while a diamond gemstone is of great value. Sometimes, though, a stone can have great value, but not be appreciated by some people.

In 1Pt 2:4, Jesus is described as a "living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious." In 1Pt 2:6, Jesus is referred to as "a chief cornerstone", the most important stone in any building. But he was a stone "which the builders rejected" and is viewed as 'a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." (1Pt 2:7,8)

Peter uses these Old Testament concepts (as Jesus himself did) to point out that, while Jesus was chosen by God, he was rejected by men. He was not the kind of Messiah they were expected, so they stumbled over him. It was the same stone, but Jesus was viewed by some as a very valuable stone and by others as a worthless rock.

The application of this passage to us as Christians is found in Peter's description of us as "living stones, [who] are being built up a spiritual house." (I Peter 2:5). Peter is writing this epistle to Christians who are suffering persecution, and are getting discouraged because this world is making life hard for them even though they are doing what is right.

Peter's point is that, as followers of Jesus Christ, we can expect no different treatment than he received. We are living stones who follow "the stone," a stone that was rejected by men. We shouldn't be surprised when the same thing happens to us. Our responsibility, as living stones, is simply to continue to live in a way that will bring honor and glory to God. Some will appreciate our effort, some will not, but, in the end, all that matters is that we are "chosen by God" just as Jesus was.

"Father, there are times when we get so very discouraged. There are times when it seems that, the harder we strive to serve you faithfully, the more difficult life becomes. Help us to remember that we are followers of Jesus and that we can expect nothing different from what Jesus received while he was on this earth. Father, we ask your blessing as we seek to live in a way that glorifies you. In Jesus' name, amen."

If I could have done this, I might still be married

LOVING SOMEONE YOU CAN'T STAND

Doctor: "I see you're over a month late for your appointment. Don't you know that nervous disorders require prompt and regular attention? What's your excuse?"

Patient: "I was just following your orders, Doc."

Doctor: "Following my orders? What are you talking about? I gave you no such order."

Patient: "You told me to avoid people who irritate me."

Unfortunately, we don’t always have the option of avoiding people who irritate, people who hurt us, people who offend us. In fact, sometimes those who irritate us the most are found right in our home (or in our church building). So how should we deal with them?

Milton Jones has written a wonderful book entitled "How to Love Someone You Can’t Stand" which I highly recommend (you can find it at Amazon.com). In this book, Jones lists six godly principles which are derived from Rm 12:

(1) Manage Your mouth -- Bless and don't curse (Rm 12:14)

(2) Put yourself in the other person's place and try to understand their feelings, thoughts and position (Rm 12:15)

(3) Never, never, never take revenge (Rm 12:17)

(4) Plan ahead to do something beautiful (Rm 12:17)

(5) Don't just win the war, win the peace (Rm 12:18)

(6) Make room for God (Rm 12:19)

The bottom line is that we do not overcome evil with evil by retaliating and seeking to "get even". The only way to overcome evil is with good (Rm 12:21). It is never easy to respond to those who do us wrong in a way that is godly, but it is only by following the example of Jesus Christ that we can truly have an influence on the world around us.

"But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps..." (1Pt 2:19-20)

Memorial Day

EAGLE BASE, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Army News Service, May 22, 2002) -- It was raining "cats and dogs" and I was late for physical training. Traffic was backed up at Fort Campbell KY, and was moving way too slowly. I was probably going to be late and I was growing more and more impatient.

The pace slowed almost to a standstill as I passed Memorial Grove, the site built to honor the soldiers who died in the Gander airplane crash, the worst redeployment accident in the history of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). Because it was close to Memorial Day, a small American flag had been placed in the ground next to each soldier's memorial plaque. My concern at the time, however, was getting past the bottleneck, getting out of the rain and getting to PT on time.

All of a sudden, infuriatingly, just as the traffic was getting started again, the car in front of me stopped. A soldier, a private of course, jumped out in the pouring rain and ran over toward the grove. I couldn't believe it! This knucklehead was holding up everyone for who knows what kind of prank. Horns were honking.

I waited to see the butt-chewing that I wanted him to get for making me late. He was getting soaked to the skin. His BDUs were plastered to his frame. I watched-as he ran up to one of the memorial plaques, picked up the small American flag that had fallen to the ground in the wind and the rain, and set it upright again. Then, slowly, he came to attention, saluted, ran back to his car, and drove off.

I'll never forget that incident. That soldier, whose name I will never know, taught me more about duty, honor, and respect than a hundred books or a thousand lectures. That simple salute -- that single act of honoring his fallen brother and his flag -- encapsulated all the Army values in one gesture for me. It said, "I will never forget. I will keep the faith. I will finish the mission. I am an American soldier."

I thank God for examples like that.

And on this Memorial Day, I will remember all those who paid the ultimate price for my freedom, and one private, soaked to the skin, who honored them.

- Capt. John Rasmussen chaplain with Multinational Division North in Bosnia.

do I know you?

Two men were sitting next to each other at a bar. After a while, one guy looks at the other and says, "I can't help but think, from listening to you, that you're from Ireland." The other guy responds proudly, "Yes, that I am!"

The first guy says, "So am I! And where about from Ireland might you be?" The other guy answers, "I'm from Dublin, I am."

The first guy responds, "So am I! Sure and begorra. And what street did you live on in Dublin?" The other guy says, "A lovely little area it was. I lived on McCleary Street in the old central part of town."

The first guy says, "Faith and it's a small world. So did I! So did I! And to what school would you have been going?" The other guy answers, "Well, now, I went to St. Mary's, of course."

The first guy gets really excited and says, "And so did I. Tell me, what year did you graduate?" The other guy answers, "Well, now, let's see. I graduated in 1964."

The first guy exclaims, "The Good Lord must be smiling down upon us! I can hardly believe our good luck at winding up in the same bar tonight. Can you believe it? I graduated from St. Mary's in 1964 my own self!" About this time, Vicky walks into the bar, sits down, and orders a beer. Brian, the bartender, walks over to Vicky, shakes his head, and mutters, "It's going to be a long night tonight." Vicky asks, "Why do you say that, Brian?"

"The Murphy twins are drunk again." - Michael B. Wright, Tampa FL q.gcfl

where's your tail?

A blond was trimming her lawn with a weed whacker and accidentally cut off the tail of her cat who was hiding in the grass. She rushed her cat along with the tail over to Walmart. Why Walmart? Walmart is the largest retailer in the world! - Larry q.gcfl

website ratings

AT&T - 8 - good at allowing you flexibility in making a payment, especially at setting the date. confusing at showing pending payments in an too subtle format

Discovercard - 9.5 - very good at allowing you flexibility in making a payment, especially at setting the date. very good at showing pending payments in an easy-to-understand format.

my note to them


I may have said this b$efore but I like the current state of your website. I like the way I can schedule payments -- it is easy to use.

And I really like the way you show pending payments -- very user friendly. I say this from the point of view of having worked now 48 yrs in IT in one role or another -- the last 14 with a financial services company.

Keep up the good work.